j. h. paul.
the question "what shall i do to be saved?" involves the fate of every man and woman on earth; and rational persons cannot rest satisfied until they have a correct understanding in regard to it.
first principles. heb. 6: 1, 2.
the scriptures teach that the first step toward salvation is to believe in the lord jesus christ; that the second step is to repent and turn from sin; that the third step is to be baptized by immersion for the remission of sins; and that the fourth step is to receive the gift of the holy ghost through the laying on of hands by those having authority to confer it. these are first among the saving principles of the gospel of christ; and while men may claim that the requirements instituted by him for the salvation of mankind are no longer necessary, the sincere seeker after salvation will prefer to believe the revealed word of god.
is belief alone sufficient?
rom. 1: 16. heb. 11: 6.
the gospel is the power of god unto salvation to every one that believeth; and "without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to god must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." but what constitutes the faith and belief named here? is it a mere intellectual assent or opinion? must we also do as well as believe?
genuine belief. john 17: 3. 1 john 2: 3, 4.
the beloveth disciple writes: "and this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true god, and jesus christ, whom thou hast sent." construe this statement with another passage of scripture, "and hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. he that saith, i know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, {148} and the truth is not in him." the devils believe—and tremble. james 2: 19.
matt. 28: 19, 20.
jesus said to his apostles: "go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever i have commanded you." the disciples were sent to teach all nations, and they were instructed to enjoin obedience to "all things whatsoever" christ gave as commandments. his language is so comprehensive that no command can be omitted.
gal. 3: 7. john 8: 39. gen. 26: 5. james 1: 22.
"know ye therefore, that they which are of faith, the same are the children of abraham." but, "if ye were abraham's children, ye would do the works of abraham." "because that abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." "but be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."
faith and works. james 2: 14-22.
"what doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? but wilt thou know, o vain man, that faith without works is dead? was not abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered isaac his son upon the altar? seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?"
luke 6: 46. luke 11: 28. john 14: 15-21. rev. 22: 14.
"and why call ye me, lord, lord, and do not the things which i say?" "but he said, yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of god, and keep it." "if ye love me, keep my commandments. he that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father, and i will love him, and will manifest myself to him." "blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." salvation is won by the works of a lifetime.
repent or perish.
true repentance. luke 18: 13. ezek. 18: 30. luke 13: 5. matt. 3: 7, 8.
belief in god is followed by an utterance which lies deep in the troubled heart of man: "god be merciful to me, a sinner!" the answer of the almighty to the godly sorrow of his penitent children is: "repent, and turn yourself from all your transgressions." "except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." genuine repentance is such a sorrow for past sin as produces a reformation of life, and bears fruit in good works. it leads him that steals to steal no more; him that gets drunk {149} to break from that habit; him that blasphemes to desist from that evil and learn to do well. all need to repent. even the best men fall far short of their ideal. repentance is therefore one of the conditions of salvation. it must precede the forgiveness of sins; and those who do not repent are not eligible for baptism.
is baptism essential to salvation?
the counsel of god.
one of the most remarkable fallacies of modern times is the wide-spread doctrine that we can be saved without complying with the ordinances and other requirements which our savior instituted for the salvation of men.
luke 7: 29, 30.
john the baptist, a servant of the most high, taught and administered baptism; the lord said that those who received this baptism justified god, but that there were others who "rejected the counsel of god against themselves, being not baptized of him." now, men cannot be saved by rejecting the counsel of god against themselves. then, as it is the counsel of god for men to be baptized, they cannot be saved without baptism, which is therefore essential to salvation.
the command of god. acts 11: 14. acts 10: 48.
the lord sent his angel to cornelius, and told him to send for peter, who would tell him words whereby he and all his house should be saved. cornelius did so, and when the apostle came, "he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the lord." if cornelius had rejected baptism as non-essential, could he have been saved? no; for the angel informed him that peter would tell him how to be saved, and the apostle "commanded them to be baptized." the righteous man had to be baptized.
baptism essential. gal. 3: 26, 27.
the apostle paul says: "ye are all the children of god by faith in christ jesus. for as many of you as have been baptized into christ, have put on christ." if it is necessary "to put on christ" to obtain salvation, then it is essential to be baptized, for we put on christ by baptism.
mark 16: 15.
the lord jesus, in sending out his apostles, said: "go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. he that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not," (and consequently is not baptized) "shall be damned." here the lord positively declares that it is only the baptized believer who shall be saved.
the new birth. john 3: 5.
jesus said to nicodemus: "verily, verily, i say unto thee, except a man be born of water" (that is, baptized in water) "and of the spirit," (that is, baptized in the spirit) "he cannot {150} enter into the kingdom of god." if entering the kingdom of god is essential to salvation, then being "born of water," or being baptized, is essential also, for by doing the latter we make the former possible.
baptism for the dead.
the thief on the cross. john 20: 11-17.
some have supposed that the thief who was crucified beside the lord went to heaven, and it is believed that he was not baptized; therefore, it is argued, if one can be saved without baptism, others can. but the supposition is incorrect: jesus said to the thief, "to-day shalt thou be with me in paradise," and three days afterwards said to mary, "touch me not; for i am not yet ascended to my father." by this we learn that paradise and heaven are two distinct places, and as jesus did not go to heaven on the day he was crucified, neither did the thief; for they were both together in paradise.
the dead preached to. i peter 4: 6.
here the seeker after truth may properly inquire. "if it is necessary for all men and women to be baptized, what will become of the good people who have died without having that privilege?" to this the reply of the scriptures is that the dead who died without hearing the gospel will have it preached to them. they who obey it will be saved, but they who reject it will be condemned, as though they were in the flesh. "for this cause was the gospel preached" [by christ] "to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh."
the dead baptized for. i cor. 15: 29. the spirits in prison. i peter 3: 18-20.
"but a dead person cannot be baptized," says one. very true; but god is just. he has provided a way in which the dead can be baptized for, by the living, as shown by the apostle paul in his questions: "else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?" paul referred to baptism for the dead, as a proof of the resurrection, his questions showing plainly that "baptism for the dead" was both believed in and practiced by the early christians. peter says: "for christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to god, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the spirit: by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometimes were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of god waited in the days of noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water." that is: those who rejected the gospel in the days of noah were kept in the prison of the spirit world until the gospel was {151} again offered to them; and the same fate awaits all those who in this life reject this glad message.
object or purpose of baptism.
the remission of sins. mark 1: 4.
when john was in the wilderness he preached the "baptism of repentance for the remission of sins."
acts 2: 38.
"on the day of pentecost, many persons were convinced that jesus was the christ, and cried out, "men and brethren, what shall we do?" peter replied: "repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ, for the remission of sins."
here we find the inspired apostle, after christ's ascension into heaven, teaching that baptism is for the remission of sins.
the case of paul. acts 22: 16.
paul saw a vision in which he was directed to go to a certain place, where it should be told him what to do. he did so, and there fasted and prayed three days. then the lord sent to him ananias, who said, "arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins." why did not the lord remit paul's sins through his fasting and prayer? for the reason that he has instituted baptism for that purpose, and all who desire the blessing of remission of sins must comply with his law.
"inward grace."
"but," says one, "that doctrine is strange to me; i was always taught that baptism was an outward sign of an inward grace." no such doctrine can be sustained by the scripture. you must be baptized and have your sins washed away before you are even prepared for the reception of an "inward grace."
"but peter tells us," urges the objector, "that baptism is 'not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards god.'" and peter states the truth. ananias did not tell paul to be baptized and wash away "the filth of the flesh," but to be baptized and wash away his sins.
infant baptism. mark 10: 14.
infant baptism is contrary to reason and scripture; infants are without sin; "of such is the kingdom of heaven." it is true that the sin of adam passed upon all mankind; but christ took that sin upon himself and atoned for it upon the cross. the bible teaches that the sins for which men should be baptized are their individual sins, and not the sin they were born in, for the lord jesus atoned for that.
forgiveness is the gift of god. acts 8: 18.
it will not do to say that baptism remits a man's sins, for that is the work of the lord. the "laying on of hands" does not give the holy ghost, for it is the "gift of god." the {152} blowing of rams' horns did not throw down the walls of jericho; it was the power of jehovah. "simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the holy ghost was given."
mode of baptism.
buried in water. eph. 4: 5. rom. 6: 4, 5. mark 1: 10. col. 2: 12. john 3: 23.
the mode of baptism was also designated by the lord, and his instructions were strictly obeyed by his servants. paul testifies that there is "one lord, one faith, one baptism," and describes the manner in which the ordinance was performed: "therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." as the lord had been buried in the watery element in the river jordan, "coming up out of the water," so also were the saints "buried with him in baptism;" they received the ordinance by immersion in the same element, according to the prescribed method. john baptized "in aenon near to salim, because there was much water there."
born again. matt. 3: 13-17. acts 8: 17-19. acts 19: 5, 6.
jesus insisted on receiving baptism "to fulfill all righteousness." when he had been "born of water," and had come up out of that element, the spirit of god came upon him, and the voice of god was heard: "this is my beloved son, in whom i am well pleased." this is the pattern. so likewise the repentant believer goes down into the water, with the one sent of god to baptize, and is buried therein and raised up again in the likeness of christ's resurrection; he is thus born of the water, receiving the baptism appointed by the lord; the remission of his sins comes from god through his son jesus christ, and is given in baptism; he is cleansed and purified, his past sins are blotted out; he is like a newborn babe before his god, and is then prepared to receive the holy ghost, which "dwelleth not in unclean tabernacles," and which is imparted to the baptized believer by the laying on of hands by those having authority to officiate in this ordinance. as his body was enveloped in the waters of baptism, so his soul is enveloped in the holy ghost, and he is baptized with divine fire; he is "born of water and of the spirit," and made a citizen of the kingdom of god.
authority to baptize.
called of god. heb. 5: 4. exod. 4: 14-16.
the scriptures also teach that, for the ordinance to be effectual, it must be performed by one authorized to act in {153} the name of the lord; for "no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of god, as was aaron." aaron was called by the voice of god, through moses.
divine authority. matt. 28: 19. mark 3: 14. john 15: 16.
the savior commanded his apostles to "teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost." but he had given them the divine commission to act in his name wheresoever he should send them: "he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach." the divine authority which they possessed was the source of their power. this fact he impressed upon them, saying: "ye have not chosen me, but i have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the father in my name, he may give it you." if they had started out on their own authority without being chosen, god certainly would not have recognized ordinances performed by them in his name.
imperfect baptism is not baptism. acts 19: 11-16. acts 19: 1-6.
the apostle paul, by the power of god, cast out evil spirits; but when the sons of sceva, on whom the divine authority had not been conferred, attempted to do this, they met with failure. when the apostle went to ephesus, he found certain persons who claimed to have been baptized "unto john's baptism." paul discerned that they had not received john's baptism, for they knew nothing of the holy ghost. probably some unauthorized person—perhaps with good intent, but nevertheless without authority—had been along that way baptizing "unto john's baptism," but not with it, for that could only be done by a duly commissioned servant of god. after they received a proper understanding of the true ordinance they were baptized again, "and when paul had laid his hands upon them, the holy ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied."
go thou and do likewise.
the experience of the men of ephesus affords an interesting lesson. they had been mistaken, but when the truth was presented to them they accepted it gladly. they received the gospel ordinance, viz.: baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, administered by one having divine authority; the burial in, and the birth from the watery element, without which ordinance the lord has said that no man can enter the kingdom of heaven. "enter ye in at the strait gate" that leads to life eternal.
